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20080-02012-- Evolving Machine 
3 axis cnc machine with 4'x8' bed and approx. 16" of Z travel.

Plasma:  ESAB PCM 1125 80 amp machine with 25'

Hand Held torch.

Router:  4.0hp VFD controlled a/c router with ER20 collet.



  The excellent rigidity of this machine allows it to machine aluminum much better than the other machines.  The gantry proportions and truss configuration make it the stiffest machine We built to date.   The large moderate 16" Z axis still allows for a variety of adaptive uses like router carving of wood or foam masses as well as for plasma cutting large steel sections like I-beams and large tubes.  This machine is a further adaptation of the original cnc table made from one of the original work tables in the shop.  Using the original controller, the MP1000 (now obsolete) from CandCNC it has a digital torch height controller for plasma cutting and works with the router using a different control screen set.

The other nice thing about this machine is that it is fairly compact being able to fit into a space with a ceiling height of about 7'8".

The stiffness of this machine allows for greater speed in doing things like cutting vinyl masks that can be used for screen printing or masking.

This iteration is when the new motor brackets developed in the 2010 5 axis machine were incorporated into the studio machine.  The bracket also allows for belt tensioning and either NEMA 23 or NEMA 34 motors.

The X axis guide rails are made using angles that were in the shop racks and utilize an upper & lower bearing with 3/4" shaft at front & rear of each upright and then incorporates a lateral bearing arm at each corner to adjust and maintain the lateral (y+/-) direction alignment.  That "arm" or guide finger, is held in place and adjusted by two 3/8" bolts, one as a pivot point, and one as the securing/adjusting end.

The fate of this machine is that it was transferred to John Langley, a scultpor and one of the fellow originators of the vintage Gala Corina Art and Architecture shows from around 2000.

Screen shots from the CAD model done in AutoCad 2007 and dynamic structural analysis of the frames in SpaceGass--running on WinXp & an old Dell Laptop . . .